At Last

(One of the New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2012) A work of glittering social comedy, profound emotional truth, and acute verbal wit, At Last is the stunning culmination of the Patrick Melrose chronicles. As readers of Edward St. Aubyn's extraordinary novels Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, and the Man Booker Prize finalist Mother's Milk are well aware, the idea of "family" has always been a double-edged sword for Patrick. At Last begins as friends, relatives, and foes trickle in to pay final respects to his mother Eleanor, an American heiress who married into the British aristocracy, and who is widely celebrated for giving up the grandeur of her upbringing for "good works" (freely bestowed on everyone but her own son). But as the service ends and family and friends gather for a final party, Patrick finds himself questioning whether his transition to a life without parents will indeed be the liberation he had so long imagined.